Mail-delivery apparatus.



S. HENRY. MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED 001 .25, 1909.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Patented Dec. 21, 1909.

S. HENRY.

MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 0GT.25, 1909.

Patented D60. 21, 1909.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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SMITH HENRY, 015 LILESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

MAIL-DELIVERY APPARATUS.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, SMITH HENRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lilesville, in the county of Anson and State of NorthCarolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHail-Delivery Apparatus, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has relation to certain new and useful improvements inmail bag catchers and deliverers of that character wherein bag holdingarms or similar devices are carried by the car and are adapted todeliver a bag at a station and simultaneously receive a bag from astationary post or other holding device arranged adjacent to the cartrack.

Another object is to provide new and novel means for operating the bagholding arms or bars to release and receive the mail bags.

A further object is to provide a very simple device of this characterwhich is constructed of very few parts and is absolutely positive in itsoperation, means being provided to retain the bag carrying arms in theirclosed position to prevent the accidental release of the bag.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists of thenovel construction, combination and arrangement of parts here-. inafterfully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mail pouchcatching and delivering mechanism constructed in accordance with thepresent invention; Fig. 2 is a top plan view with the cover plateremoved; Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fi 2; Fig. i is asection takenon the line l-l of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a detail section ofthe end of the operating lever, showing means for holding the same inits adjusted position; Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the armactuating block.

Referring to the drawings 5 indicates a car having a doorway 6. To oneside of the (floor-way a bracket 7 is secured upon the outer end ofwhich the arm 8 is pivoted for transverse movement in the car door. Theouter end of this arm is enlarged as shown at 9 and is horizontallyslotted to provide a housing 10. The bag or pouch holding bars 11 arecentrally pivoted within this housin and extend from the opposite sidesthereof. Each of the arms is formed with a central Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed October 25, 1909.

Patented Dec. 21, 1909.

Serial No. 524,460.

rack segment 12, the teeth of which mesh with each other when the armsare transversely moved to release the bag, as will hereinafter appear.The upper portion of the housing is centrally cut away as shown at 13.

Secured upon the pivot pin 14 of one of the arms 11 there is a block 15which as clearly shown in Fig 6 is bifurcated at its inner end as at 16.The center of this bifurcated end of the block is notched as at 17. Thisnotch receives a depending pin 19 carried by an operating lever 18. Theoperating lever is disposed upon and movable over the casing 10, and hasits inner end loosely piv oted upon the pin 20 on which also is pivotedthe other of the arms 11 within the housing. The inner extremity of theoperating arm 18 is provided with a longitudinal socket 21 in which abolt 22 is disposed and has its outer end engaged with the inner concaveedge of a spacing block 23. This bolt is normally held in yieldingengagement with the spacing block by means of the spring 2 1- coiledabout the same and disposed within the socket. As shown in Fig. 2, whenthe arms are closed to secure the pouch between the same, the end ofthis bolt is disposed in a shallow notch or socket 25 in the spacingblock and is therefore adapted to retain the operating lever 18 inposition and prevent the accidental sepa -ation of the holding arms.

irrranged adjacent to the car track is a post or standard 26. Secured tothe upper end of this post there the outwardly extending arms 27 each ofwhich has its extremity laterally turned as shown at 27. Also secured tothe post at a lower point is a second arm 28 in the outer end of whichthe resilient pouch holding member 29 is se cm'ed. This member is formedfrom heavy resilient wire and is bowed in opposite directions and hasits extremities outwardly curved. It will be noted that the lateralextremity 27 of each of the arms is disposed in the direction oppositeto the lower pouch holder. This mail arm has its lateral extremityextending in the same direction as the train is moving and the arms 27and the pouch holder would preferably be so mounted on the post 26 thatthey could be swung to opposite sides thereof.

The upper open ortion of the housing 10 is covered by a sultable coverplate and LOO is adapted to protect the rack segments against theintroduction of foreign matter and thus insure the positive operation ofthe device.

Secured in the housing 10 and extending above the same to the undersideof the cover plate 30 are the stop pins 31. These pins are disposed uponeither side of the pivot pin 20 of the arm 11 and are adapted to engagewith the end of the operating lever to limit its pivotal movement.

In the operation of the device, the bars 11 receive between their rearends the mail pouch or bag which is to be delivered at the station, theforward ends of the bars being open to their fullest extent. As thetrain approaches the post 26, the outer end of the operating lever 18engages with the post, and the lever is moved to the position shown inFig. 2 and the rear ends of the arms and the bars open while the forwardends thereof are closed. This movement of the lever closes the bars uponthe pouch or bag which has been placed upon the end of the arms 27, andas the train moves in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1, thebag will be drawn from the arms and securely held between the forwardends of the bars, at the same time the pouch which is held between therear ends of the bars 11 strikes between the ends of the resilient pouchholder 29 secured to the outerend of the arm 28, and as the ends of thearm open the bag will be securely held between the bowed portions of theholder until removed by the station agent or other person with theproper authority.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the operation of the device isextremely simple, and its actuation is very positive owing to thecooperation of the bars 11 to simultaneously open and close theirrespective corresponding ends upon the engagement of the operating leverwith the stationary post 26. The engagement of the lever with the postmoves the bolt 22 out of the recess 25 and places the coil spring undertension. hen the position of the bars has been reversed, the lever 18will be disposed on the opposite side of its pivotal center as shown inFig. 2 and the bolt will engage in another notch provided in the spacingblock 23.

lVhile I have shown and described what I believe to be the preferredembodiment of my invention, it will be obvious that numerous minormodifications may be resorted to without departing from the essentialfeatures or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention, and Ireserve the right to make such changes as may fairly fall within thescope of the claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with a carhaving a doorway, of an outwardly extending arm pivotally mounted withinthe doorway and transversely movable therein, a housing 011 the outerend of said arm, bars centrally pivoted in said housing extendingparallel to the car, means disposed within said housing adapted totransversely move the bars on their pivotal center to engage thecorresponding ends thereof, and an operative lever adapted to engagewith a stationary post in juxtaposition to the car track to operate saidmeans.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a carhaving a doorway, of a bracket secured in said doorway, an arm pivotedon said bracket for transverse swinging movement in said doorway, saidarm having an enlarged outer end provided with a horizontal openingtherein, a pair of bars centrally pivoted in said opening and extendinghorizontally from the opposite sides of said arm, a rack segmentintegrally formed with the pivoted center of said bars, a lever pivotedon said arm, means carried by said arm, operable by said lever, adaptedto move the rack segments and open and close the corresponding ends ofsaid bars, and means for limiting the pivotal movement of said lever.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a car havinga doorway, of a bracket secured to one side of said doon way, atransversely movable arm pivoted on said bracket, the outer end of saidarm being slotted to provide a housing, pouch delivering and receivingbars pivoted in said housing, each of said bars having a central racksegment integrally formed therewith. an inwardly extending block rigidlysecured upon the pivot of one of said bars and llil'W ing a bifurcatedinner end, an operating lever loosely pivoted upon the pivot of theother of said bars, means carried by said lever engaging with said blockadapted to move the bars in opposite transverse directions to engagetheir corresponding ends, and means for limiting the pivotal movement ofsaid lever.

at. In a device of the class described, the combination with a carhaving a doorway, of an arm pivotally mounted in said doorway fortransverse swinging movement, the outer end of said arm being enlargedand having a horizontal slot to form housing, bars pivoted in saidhousing centrally of their ends and adapted to be transversely moved inopposite directions to engage their corresponding extremities, the rearends of said bars being adapted to hold a pouch between them to bedelivered, and the forward ends of said bars being separated to receivea pouch, an operating lever pivoted in said housing adjacent to one end,means for normally holding the lever to retain the bars in theiradjusted positions, and means adapted to be actuated by said lever toopen and close the corresponding ends of said bars.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a car havinga doorway, of an arm pivotally mounted in said doorway for transversemovement, a housing on the outer end of said arm, bars centrally pivotedin said housing and extending laterally from opposite sides of the arm,the upper portion of said housing having its center cut away, an arcuaterack segment integrally formed with each of said bars at their pivotalpoints extending inwardly to the center of the housing, a block rigidlysecured upon the pivot of one of said bars, an operating leverindependently movable upon the pivot of the other of said bars, saidblock having a bifurcated inner end, a depending pin carried by saidlever disposed in the bifurcated end of said block, said pin beingadapted to engage with and move said block upon the pivotal movement ofthe lever, such movement engaging the teeth of the rack segments andmoving the bars in reverse transverse direction to open and close theircorresponding ends, and means disposed in juxtaposition to the line ofmovement of the car adapted to receive and deliver a mail pouch from andto the opposite ends of said bars.

(3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a carhaving a doorway, of an arm pivotally mounted in said doorway fortransverse swinging movement, laterally extending bars pivotally mounted011 the outer end of said arm, engaging arcuate rack segments integrallyformed with each of said bars, the corresponding ends of said bars beingadapted to receive and hold a pouch between them, the other ends of saidbars being reversely positioned, an operating lever loosely disposedupon the pivot pin of one of said bars, means engaged by said leveradapted to move said bars in opposite transverse directions to open andclose their opposite ends, and means for normally holding said leveragainst movement.

T. In a device of the clia 'acter described, the combination with a carhaving a doorway, of an arm pivotally mounted in said doorway fortransverse swinging movement, bars extending laterally from the oppositesides of said arm, the outer end of said arm being horizontally slottedto receive the bars, said slotted portion having its upper part cutaway, a lever pivoted adjacent to its end. upon said arm, a cover plateextending over said lever secured to the arm, means actuated by thepivotal movement of saidi lover adapted to simultaneously move said barsin opposite transverse directions, and means arranged in juxtapositionto the line of movement of the car adapted to receive and deliver a mailpouch from and to said bars as the lever is moved. a

8. In a device of the character described, the combination with a carhaving a door way, of an arm pivoted in said doorway for transverseswinging movement, bars centrally pivoted to said arm and extendinglaterally therefrom, arcuate rack segments integrally formed with saidbars at their pivotal points adapted to engage and simultaneously movethe bars in opposite trans verse directions, an operating lever pivotedon said arm, means engaged by said lever to move said bars, meansadapted to yieldingly hold said lever from pivotal movement, and astandard arranged in juxtaposition to the line of movement of said caradapted to be engaged by said lever to operate the same, said standardcarrying means adapted to receive and deliver a mail pouch to and fromthe opposite ends of the bars.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination with a car havinga doorway, of an arm pivoted in said doorway for transverse swingingmovement, bars extending laterally from the opposite sides of said armand centrally pivoted thereto, an operating lever pivoted on said armadjacent to its end, means actuated by the pivotal movement of saidlever to simultaneously move the bars in opposite transverse directions,a cover plate disposed over said lever and secured to the arm, a spacingblock arranged between the plate and lever, said lever having a socketin its inner end, a spring pressed bolt disposed in said socket, theouter end of said bolt being adapted to engage in notches in saidspacing block, the inner edge of said block being concentric to the lineof movement of said lever, a standard arranged in juxtaposition to theline of movement of the car, arms extending outwardly from the standardhaving pouch holding means extending in opposite lateral directionsadapted to deliver and receive a pouch to and from the opposite ends ofsaid bars as the outer end of the operating lever is engaged with saidpost.

In testimony whereof I hereunto allix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

SMITH HENRY.

Witnesses J. S. CLARK, J. B. BROWN.

